First Hand Account of Widespread Torture at the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp

April 18, 2009 | By a practitioner from Harbin City

(Clearwisdom.net ) On August 27, 2002, practitioners in Harbin City,
Heilongjiang Province experienced another round of torture at the Wanjia Forced
Labor Camp. I have written down my personal experience below.

The torture began in the No. 6 Ward (where my cell was), with three male
guards assigned to each ward. Liu Tao, director of the No. 4 Men's Section, and
Sun Qingqiang, an instructor of the No. 4 Section, forcibly dragged Ms. Cui to
an unknown location and tortured her for not wearing the forced labor camp's
uniform. After some time, Ms. Cui stumbled back to her cell, escorted by a male
guard.

Ms. Cui clasped her neck in pain and her face was all black and blue. She
said that guard Sun Qingqiang had beaten and shocked her. Shortly after, Ms. He
Miao was dragged out of her cell and forced to sit on an iron chair.
The guards simultaneously beat and shocked her with an electric baton.

After Ms. Chen Xianjun and I were dragged from our cell to two empty iron
chairs, guard Sun took our arms and handcuffed them behind our backs and around
the back of the chair. With every breath I took, I experienced excruciating
pain. Even though it was autumn and very cold and windy, the guards still took
off our coats, leaving us with only a thin layer of clothes. In the evening, we
shivered uncontrollably, nearly freezing to death.

During the day, the guards put us in the hallway in full view of the other
practitioners. At night, we were carried to the corner of the stairs where two
male guards monitored us and prevented us from falling asleep. Sometimes when I
just briefly closed my eyes, the guards would smack my head. Since they did not
allow us to use the bathroom, we were forced to abstain from eating or drinking
anything. We were in extreme pain from morning until night.

After two days of being tortured like this, Ms. Chen found it too hard to
bear and against her will she reached a compromise with the guards. Only then
was she unlocked from the iron chair. Shortly after, guards Liu Tao and Sun
Qingqiang came into my cell and asked me whether I was willing to recite the
"Thirteen Rules." Due to the severe pain that I was experiencing, I
could only shake my head, as if to say, "No."

Sun immediately punched me in the chest and temples, then he hit me with an
uppercut to my chin. Suddenly I felt dizzy and found it difficult to breathe.
For five days and five nights I was locked in the iron chair without any food,
water, or the use of any bathroom facilities.

On the morning of the sixth day, I started to exhibit symptoms of heart
disease and felt awful. The guards brought a doctor to my cell and had him
examine my blood pressure and heart rate. They took me out of the iron chair and
carried me to the bed in my cell. I felt so dizzy that the people that were
talking around me sounded like mosquitoes.

After three days of being out of the iron chair, I had not fully recovered
and still had difficulty walking. Yet the guards forced me to participate in
group training.

This new round of persecution is not just confined to the No. 6 Ward,
practitioners throughout the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp are being tortured.
Although no one has died during this round of persecution, the guards'
unconscionable behavior has had very damaging results, leaving some
practitioners partially or fully disabled.